Cam Profiles And Marketing

It is difficult to find practical information on cam profiles. Mostly, all kinds of mathematical formulas and equations will show up when searching cam profile designs. The math doesn’t really tell you anything about the cam profiles. I try to give sincere, practical information about designing cam profiles in these blog entries. If you read and understand all of the entries so far, you will have a solid foundation of knowledge on the subject. Certainly more than the average engine person.

I cannot imagine anyone designing cam profiles today that does not use a computer. The computer does all the math that I mentioned earlier. A person still has to create the profile and determine if it is the proper profile for the application. That type of knowledge is difficult (if not impossible) to find. Mostly, it comes from many years of experience. It is not common knowledge and is not an exact science like the mathematical part is.

The marketing of cam profiles is usually directed toward the application side. Some marketing is occasionally directed at the mathematical techniques that are used to design the cam profile. As the average engine person becomes more knowledgeable and has access to more technical equipment, the less the marketing gimmicks work.

While I was at Reed Cams, I was able to profile every camshaft that I could. Before we had a computer profiler, I would use a manual one. We kept pages and pages of cam profiles for reference. Later, we kept files and files stored in the computer. Basically, all this data was knowledge to me. It showed me different design techniques and was a good way to compare profiles from different manufacturers. After you see a certain number of cam profiles, the marketing gimmicks are ignored.

I would say that anyone in the business of designing cam profiles today could create a good profile. It is rare to see a “bad” profile designed today using computers. Some profiles will certainly make more power than others and some profiles will create more stress on the valve train than others. The problem is that new cam profiles are not used. Older profiles, improper profiles, and copied profiles are still used way too often. See the last blog entry.

Keep reading my blog, ask questions, expand your knowledge, and don't let the marketing gimmicks be what guides you.